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Stuart Pearce saw his Manchester City side stage a rousing comeback to book their place in the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 3-1 win over Preston at Deepdale.

Goals from Michael Ball – his first for the club – Georgios Samaras and Stephen Ireland – sealed an emphatic victory.

Yet City boss Pearce must have feared the worst when David Nugent opened the scoring for the Coca-Cola Championship side.

However, Preston did not look the same after striker Michael Ricketts was carried off and taken to hospital for X-rays on what appeared to be a damaged shoulder.

Preston went ahead after seven minutes following a corner from Danny Pugh as Ricketts’ header from close range was superbly parried by Nicky Weaver but Nugent was the first to react and scored his 17th goal of the domestic season.

City retaliated and Bernado Corradi got on the end of a cross from Hatem Trabelsi in the 12th minute, only to see his effort go wide, while Joey Barton found the side-netting from close range as they went in search of the equaliser.

Preston hit back on the counter in the 22nd minute and Weaver did well to beat away a shot from Ricketts but City drew level in the 34th minute with Ball’s first goal for the club after arriving from PSV Eindhoven.

The teams looked all set for a replay before City went ahead in the 84th minute, when a shot from Samaras took a double deflection on the way in to leave Andy Lonergan stranded.

Ireland then wrapped it up in stoppage time with a stunning volley from the edge of the D after Bernado Corradi`s volley had been blocked.